Modern refrigerators include drawers and shelves which are adjustable within the refrigerated compartment, in that they may be positioned in various vertical locations within the compartment. Also a desire has grown for at least some of the shelves be extendible, that is, for the user to be able to pull such shelves partly out of the compartment for ease of loading and unloading items to be stored. Such movable shelves present a number of problems. It is desirable that the shelf be easily moved. At the same time it is desirable that the shelf not be prone to accidental moving. For example, a refrigerator typically is mounted so as to tilt slightly toward the back. Among other things, this biases the refrigerator doors to close if they are left partially open. It is desirable that a shelf not move "on its own" as a result of such tilting of the refrigerator.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved shelf assembly for use in a refrigerator compartment.
It is another object of this invention to provide such an assembly which is easy to operate and, at the same time, stable in its retracted and extended positions.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide such an assembly which is economical to manufacture and sure in operation.